


I Like You More Than I Hate You

by prompt_fills



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Fluff, Humor, Love Potion/Spell, M/M, Magic, Pining, cressiweek2k17
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-04
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-09 02:23:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12266970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prompt_fills/pseuds/prompt_fills
Summary: Something is highly suspicious about it but Cristiano can’t deny the obvious facts. Leo has been cursed to fall in love with him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Day 4 of the #cressiweek2k17 brings you cliché – I went for the love potion. Next uptade in February, hopefully.

“You need to do something about him,” Geri hisses instead of greeting, dragging Leo across the doorstep of Cristiano’s room.

Cristiano is so taken aback he lets them slip past him.

“Close the door,” Gerard snaps. “Don’t just stand there gaping like an idiot.”

“Geri!” Leo exclaims, outraged, “He’s not an idiot.”

Gerard’s tone softens as he says to Leo, “Of course he’s not. Sorry.”

“He’s wonderful,” Leo says petulantly.

“He is,” Gerard says agreeably in a meek tone Cristiano has never heard him use before.

Cristiano shakes his head and squeezes his eyes shut but when he opens them again, the vision in front of him doesn’t change at all.

He closes the door and follows Gerard to the living room. Gerard forces Leo to sit down in an armchair and he himself sprawls over Cristiano’s couch.

Cristiano crosses his arms, eyes flickering between the two of them. “Is he drunk?” He asks, nodding at Leo with his chin. It would be a logical explanation. 

The faint blush to Leo’s cheeks deepens and he slouches in the armchair, eyes cast to the floor and shoulders drooping. The sight makes Cristiano want to apologize, for what he isn’t even sure.

Gerard pinches the bridge of his nose. “No. Not drunk.”

Cristiano doesn’t say anything because he’s not playing any guessing games with the two. He arches an eyebrow and keeps glaring at Gerard until the man caves in.

“You need to help him,” Gerard says and then continues before Cristiano can object, “Look, I know we aren’t actually friends or teammates anymore and you don’t owe him or me anything and you probably don’t care but I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t serious.”

Having his main arguments dismissed before he even got to voice them, Cristiano asks, “So this is serious?”

“Yes. Leo got-”

Leo makes a strangled noise of protest and Gerard pauses briefly before continuing.

“Leo got himself cursed.”

“Oh, sure, haha. Nice try guys.” Cristiano angrily waves at the door but neither Leo nor Gerard move. “I’m not falling for that. Just how stupid do you think I am? Now get up and get out before I make you.”

Gerard looks pissed. “Do I look like I’m kidding?!”

“Geri,” Leo huffs. “You promised to be nice if I come with you.”

“Sorry.” Gerard takes in a breath and then says, “Leo is cursed, I’m absolutely serious and you need to help him.”

“Me? Why does it have to be me? I’m sure there are plenty of other people you wouldn’t have hard time convincing to give you a hand.”

“It has to be you! The… curse made it clear it has to be you,” Gerard says, eyeing Leo for a reaction but Leo is still refusing to look up.

“The curse!” Cristiano has heard enough. “What do you think this is, the NHL? Things like that don’t happen around here.”

Gerard gives him a look. “Are you crazy? Or are you that blind? Neymar got possessed last summer, Villa got de-aged just the other month and last week Sergio got changed into a horse. Don’t you know _anything_?”

Flummoxed, Cristiano staggers to sit down on the couch next to Gerard. He addresses Leo, breath hitching in his throat, “W-what happened to you?”

Leo fidgets in the armchair as if he could feel both Cristiano and Gerard’s gazes on him. He doesn’t answer, so Gerard eventually does it for him. “He just needs to be here with you for a while, okay? I’m sure you can cope with that.”

“That’s not true,” Leo pipes up. “I don’t _need_ to be with you, Cris. You don’t have to do anything, we’ll just go-”

Gerard stares Leo down. “Yeah, so you can start waning the further from him we get? I don’t think so, buddy.”

Cristiano eyes Leo, noticing for the first time how unnaturally pale he is. He looks tired and a little feverish. “When did you say he got cursed?” He’s still half convinced he’s being pranked. For now though, he decides to go with it.

“This morning,” Gerard sighs.

“Wow. You didn’t waste any time getting here,” Cristiano says, aiming for sarcastic and missing my a mile.

“Yes,” Gerard snaps. “It was kind of an emergency.”

“I’ll be fine,” Leo says but he doesn’t sound convincing to anybody.

Gerard leans in close to whisper to Cristiano, “He’s not quite himself. No taking advantages while he’s under the influence of the curse.”

Cristiano wants to roll his eyes at their theatrics. “Don’t be daft, Gerard, who would want to curse him?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Gerard says hotly, “a fan whose marriage proposal he turned down? Someone from the opposing team Leo managed to piss off by simply existing? Someone who was angry we won a match? Someone who was angry we didn’t?”

Cristiano can see his point. “Okay. That’s not important anyway. Let’s focus on solving this mess. Namely, what breaks the curse?” If there is any curse in the first place. Gerard’s shifty behaviour doesn’t help their case at all.

“I don’t know!”

“Oh. This is going to be a problem.”

“Genius,” Gerard grits through his teeth, earning a hurt look from Leo.

“Geri,” Leo says softly.

Geri huffs, crossing his arms. “Fine. You know what this boils down to?”

Cristiano shakes his head.

“Are you going to help him or not?”

“Of course I’ll help if there is something I-”

“Excellent!” Gerard exclaims, jumping to his feet before Cristiano has time to finish his sentence. Gerard turns to Leo, “You keep holding on and I’ll find a witch that would help us out.” He grabs his keys and checks his phone and storms out of Cristiano’s flat with only a half-assed toodles thrown over his shoulder.

“Geri!” Leo calls out but Gerard is already out of the doors.

Cristiano clears his throat and Leo’s head snaps back to him, eyes wide and worried. “So, what exactly happened to you, Leo?”

“I fell for you,” Leo blurts out and then promptly turns pink.

“Um.” That’s not at all how Cristiano expected this to go.

Leo lets out a hysterical giggle. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t. I mean it’s… it’s, um.”

“It’s a curse,” Leo says simply. But it isn’t simple.


	2. Chapter 2

Leo is back to studying the floor. He’s doing a good job at making himself look even smaller than he usually looks and Cristiano has the inexplicable urge to slide next to him and give him a hug he looks so miserable. He isn’t sure touching Leo would be a good idea, though. If Gerard wasn’t pulling his leg and there really is a curse, he might only make it worse.

Cristiano doesn’t know what to think. Gerard’s concern for Leo seemed to be genuine and he doesn’t believe Leo is this much of a good actor.

“A curse, huh? I’m starting to believe that,” Cristiano says. “So you need to what, be close to me?”

“Yeah,” Leo huffs. “I wouldn’t bother you otherwise. I know you don’t… Erm. So I’m glad you put up with me.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.”

Cristiano ignores the way his chest suddenly tightens and offers, “I’m going to make tea, want a cup?”

“Please,” Leo nods.

Cristiano is glad for the excuse to escape into the kitchen. He puts the kettle on and tries his best to collect himself. It doesn’t matter what Leo does or says right now – as Gerard pointed out, Leo is _under the influence_ and there is no telling what he does because he wants to and what he does because the curse makes him.

Cristiano rubs a hand over his face. He hopes they solve this mess fast.

He grabs a bowl of grapes, takes out a fruit salad from the fridge and puts some biscuits on a plate.

Leo is still withdrawn when Cristiano returns to the living room with the tea.

“You feeling okay?”

Leo briefly glances up, then looks away, mouth twisting in a grimace of a smile. “I’m feeling all sorts of things.”

“Not what I meant,” Cristiano grumbles.

“I’m not feeling any pain. You’re close enough.”

Not what he meant either but he accepts the answer. “Okay. Here you go.”

Leo wraps his fingers around Cristiano’s as he takes his tea and the contact last just a moment too long.

Then Leo flinches, nearly spilling the hot tea over himself. He quickly puts the tea down on the table and places his hands on his knees, staring down at them and frowning.

Cristiano clears his throat. “I’m sure Gerard will figure something out.” He’s far from sure but there is nothing he can actually do for Leo right now and trying to show some support seems like a good idea. Last thing he needs is making Leo cry. From the looks of it, it’s still a concern.

“It’s not your problem if he doesn’t,” Leo says in a small voice and he’s right, darn it, none of this is Cristiano’s problem but he’s already involved and it’s _Leo_ , not some random stranger he doesn’t care about in the slightest.

He sits on the couch and pokes Leo with the tip of his foot, trying to catch his attention. “Look, it’s not that bad,” he tries.

“Yeah, maybe not for you. Nothing changes for you.”

That’s where he’s wrong.

“Leo, there must be a way to break the curse,” Cristiano says slowly. “If there is a way to put something together, there must be a way to put it apart and Gerard won’t stop looking until he finds it, you know that, right? I’ll do what I can to help you in the meantime, so don’t worry about it, okay?”

Leo stares up at him, eyes awed, expression open, and the look is plain _wrong_. It’s the curse and none of it is real, Cristiano reminds himself. He has hard time keeping the eye contact.

“I love you,” Leo whispers reverently.

Cristiano’s expression remains carefully neutral. “You think you love me, there’s a difference.”

Leo doesn’t try to protest but he doesn’t seem to get the difference. He’s blushing again and busying himself with taking a sip of the damned tea.

“I feel like watching something. Football or some film?”

Leo’s answer is quiet. “Whatever you prefer.”

Cristiano grabs the TV remote and jabs the button to switch on the TV. He doesn’t say anything, nor does he scream in frustration, for which he feels like he should be praised.

Since Cristiano doesn’t want to risk any awkwardness due to potential romantic scenes, he finds a match they can both watch without getting into an argument. Although, Cristiano has a feeling he would win this one. Leo has no backbone right now.

The sound of the doorbell is a pleasant distraction and Cristiano jumps to his feet, eager to get away. He catches the way Leo’s face crumples as he dashes past and he feels like a jerk.

 _Not himself_ , Cristiano reminds himself.

Cristiano is pleased to find Gerard at his doorstep. “Back already?” He sneers but in truth he is relieved. Seeing Leo acting nothing like his usual self has been driving him crazy.

Gerard throws a nervous look over his shoulder and he doesn’t try to get inside of the house. He shoves a pile of dusty books into Cristiano’s arms and hisses, “Take this.”

“What–”

“Research. For a cure,” he bobs his head and turns to check both ends of the street. “There could be something useful about it, so you’d better read it.” Gerard tilts his head back, eyes scanning the sky. “And say hi to Leo from me.”

“Where are you going?!” Cristiano calls out when Gerard swiftly swivels around, heading back to his car.

Gerard pulls a face. “I’ve been sent on a quest. A fucking quest.”

Cristiano’s eyebrows basically raise to his hairline.

“Yeah. Remind me to never cross a witch.”

“Uh. Sure,” Cristiano says to the sound of squealing tyres as Gerard makes his hasty exit.

He stands there for a little while, expecting to see at least a dragon giving Gerard’s car a good chase but when nothing exciting happens, he heads back home.

Leo is standing in the doorway, worrying his bottom lip and staring at the pile of books Cristiano has been given.

Cristiano sets the books down in the living room and at Leo’s questioning gaze he says, “Gerard says hi.”


End file.
